Albert Snider (October 22, 1921March 5, 1948) was a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

Thoroughbred racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

who had success in his native

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

as well as the United States.

Biography

Snider was born in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, in 1921. He got his first win as a Thoroughbred jockey on September 1, 1938, at Stamford Park racetrack in

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

. He was riding in the southern United States in the latter part of 1938 where he quickly established a reputation as a capable rider. In the ensuing years, he rode at major tracks in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Among his significant wins were the

Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes The Arlington-Washington Breeders' Cup Lassie Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid September at Arlington Park Racetrack in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Raced on Polytrack synthetic dirt over a distance of seven furl ...

and the Stars and Stripes Handicap. In his best finish in an American Classic, Snider rode owner Fred W. Hooper's colt

Hoop Jr. Hoop Jr. (March 15, 1942 – November 19, 1964) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1945 Kentucky Derby. Background Hoop Jr. was a bay horse sired by the French-bred stallion Sir Gallahad, a full brother to Bul ...

to second place in the 1945

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...

. He won the 1946 inaugural running of the Miss America Handicap with Hal Price Headley's Letmenow. Signed on to ride for

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegrass ...

, Snider became the jockey for future United States' Racing Hall of Fame inductee,

Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...

. He rode Citation in his career debut on April 22, 1947, winning a

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...

race at Havre de Grace Racetrack and most notably going on to win the

Belmont Futurity Stakes The Futurity Stakes, commonly referred to as the Belmont Futurity, is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid-September or October at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, United States. Open to two-year-old horses, it is raced on turf ...

en route to Citation being voted the U.S. Champion 2-Year-Old Colt. In all, Snider rode Citation five times at age two and four times at age three. He won all nine races. Another of Snider's impressive wins in 1947 was aboard Fervent in the mile and three-sixteenths

Pimlico Special The Pimlico Special is a Grade 3 American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles ( furlongs) held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland in mid May. The race currently offers a purse of $250,000. ...

. Run October 30 at

Narragansett Park Narragansett Park was an American race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Beginnings On May 18, 1934, Rhode Island voters approved a measure legalizing parimutuel betting by an almost 3 to 1 margin. The following day ...

, stiff competition in the $25,000 winner-take-all race saw the field narrowed to four runners. In addition to Fervent,

also entered their best runner, Armed. Ridden by Douglas Dodson, bettors made Armed the 1-5 favorite in a year the future Hall of Fame

gelding A gelding (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castration, castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated Camelidae, camels. By compa ...

would be voted

American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, or simply Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to san ...

honors. The William G. Helis Sr. colt Cosmic Bomb had Ovie Scurlock aboard, Loyal Legion, owned by Walter M. Jeffords, was ridden by

Eddie Arcaro George Edward Arcaro (February 19, 1916 – November 14, 1997) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple ...

. In the space of two days in May 1947, Snider guided three different horses to wins at Havre de Grace Racetrack in track record time. On two days during July at two racetracks in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

he rode two more horses to a track record time, one on turf and the other on dirt. 1948 promised to be a great year as Snider prepared to ride Citation in the U.S. Triple Crown series. At Hialeah Park Race Track, he rode the colt to victory in the 1948

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

and Everglades Handicaps. Several days after winning the Flamingo Stakes, Snider used a day off, March 5, to go fishing in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

. While out on the water, a sudden storm came up and Snider apparently drowned. His

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats, usually propelled by sails or oars. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for work, leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-pers ...

was found eight days later on a small island south of Everglades City, but search parties found no trace of Snider or the two other men who had been with him. Calumet Farms head trainer Ben Jones hired

to replace Snider on Citation and they won the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

, and

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

, making him only the eighth horse in history to win the U.S. Triple Crown. Calumet Farm and winning jockey Arcaro, one of Snider's friends, gave Snider's widow a share of his Kentucky Derby

purse money Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to t ...

. In an extensive 1999 interview, Calumet Farm's Hall of Fame trainer Jimmy Jones spoke to

Blood-Horse Publications Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It began in 1916 through its flagship magazine, ''The Blood-Horse''. From 1961 to 2015, Blood-Horse Public ...

about Snider with "fondness and respect" saying such things as "Albert was a great rider, just as good as Eddie Arcaro", "Albert rode Citation better than anybody", "he was a very intelligent rider, very polished", "he conducted himself like a professional", "with great work habits", "It was just a shame Albert couldn't have gone on with Citation to win the Triple Crown and Horse of the Year and all those races," and "Losing a fine young man like that when he was in his prime, well, it just made us all sick".

Biography

References

Further reading